EP0154990A2 - Imprimante thermique à transfert - Google Patents

Imprimante thermique à transfert Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0154990A2
EP0154990A2 EP85102878A EP85102878A EP0154990A2 EP 0154990 A2 EP0154990 A2 EP 0154990A2 EP 85102878 A EP85102878 A EP 85102878A EP 85102878 A EP85102878 A EP 85102878A EP 0154990 A2 EP0154990 A2 EP 0154990A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
printing
inked ribbon
ribbon
inked
thermal head
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP85102878A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0154990A3 (en
EP0154990B1 (fr
Inventor
Ikuo Kumagai
Tomoji Kitagishi
Akiyoshi Hakoyama
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hitachi Ltd
Original Assignee
Hitachi Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hitachi Ltd filed Critical Hitachi Ltd
Publication of EP0154990A2 publication Critical patent/EP0154990A2/fr
Publication of EP0154990A3 publication Critical patent/EP0154990A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0154990B1 publication Critical patent/EP0154990B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J33/00—Apparatus or arrangements for feeding ink ribbons or like character-size impression-transfer material
    • B41J33/14—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms
    • B41J33/40—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms with arrangements for reversing the feed direction
    • B41J33/42—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms with arrangements for reversing the feed direction manually
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J32/00—Ink-ribbon cartridges

Definitions

  • This invention relates to thermal transfer printers, and more particularly it is concerned with a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette for containing an inked ribbon.
  • This invention has as its object the provision of a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette in which the cassette case accounts for a smaller proportion of the inked ribbon cassette as a whole than in inked ribbon cassettes of the prior art.
  • a thermal transfer printer comprising an inked ribbon, a thermal head, a carriage for moving the thermal head and a control unit for controlling thermal transfer printing operations, wherein the improvement comprises an inked ribbon cassette for containing the inked ribbon constructed such that printing can be performed in a plurality of stages.
  • Fig. 1 there is shown, in a perspective view, one embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the invention, showing its external appearance.
  • Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view, shown on an enlarged scale, of the ribbon cassette as a whole.
  • Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette, showing its interior.
  • the characterizing feature of the invention is that the ribbon cassette of the thermal transfer printer is formed on its left and right sides with cutouts for receiving a thermal head, so that the ribbon cassette can perform the function of printing characters, symbols, etc., in two stages or in upper and lower half-portions of the inked ribbon.
  • a plurality of shafts 4 are joined at opposite ends to side plates 1 and 2 for supporting a carriage 5 thereon for sliding movement.
  • the carriage 5 supports thereon a ribbon cassette 7 and a thermal head 15.
  • An inked ribbon 16 is contained in the ribbon cassette 7.
  • the carriage 5 is driven by a carriage motor 8 through a timing belt 10 for movement leftwardly and rightwardly in Fig. 1.
  • a line feed motor 11 transmits a motive force to a gear 12 supported by a shaft of a platen 18 to feed a printing sheet 14.
  • the printing sheet 14 can be manually fed by turning a platen knob 13.
  • the numeral 19 designates a printing sheet guide.
  • sheet keep rollers 17 slidably supported by a shaft 3 can be moved between a position in which they are maintained in pressing engagement with the surface of the printing sheet 14 wound on the platen 18 and a position in which they are out of engagement with the surface of the printing sheet 14.
  • the numeral 6 designates a home position sensor, and the numeral 9 a flat cable for passing a electric current to the thermal head 15.
  • the thermal transfer printer of the aforesaid construction is of a one-way printing system in which printing is performed only when the carriage 5 moves rightwardly. When the carriage 5 moves rightwardly, the inked ribbon 16 is taken up; when the carriage 5 moves leftwardly, the inked ribbon 16 is not taken up.
  • the carriage motor 8, line feed motor 11, home position sensor 6, thermal head 15 and a ribbon sensor which, although not shown, is operative to sense, for example, an end of the inked ribbon 16 are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 23.
  • CPU central processing unit
  • the ribbon cassette 7 comprises two cassette case members 31 and 34 secured together by a plurality of fixing screws 30 to provide a hollow case in which the inked ribbon 16 and a back tension mechanism 33 for imparting a back tension of a predetermined magnitude to the inked ribbon 16.
  • the cassette case members 31 and 34 are each formed with cutouts 32A and 32B for receiving the thermal head 15 supported by the carriage 5.
  • Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette 7 showing the internal structure of the ribbon cassette 7 by removing the cassette case member 31.
  • the cassette case member 34 supports thereon a take-up shaft 21 and ribbon cores 35 and 36.
  • the thermal head 15 when the thermal head 15 is arranged in such a manner that its heat generating elements, not shown, are opposed to a lower- half portion of the inked ribbon 16 and the ribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that the cassette case member 34 comes into contact with a top surface of the carriage 5, the thermal head 15 inserted in the cutout 32A forces the inked ribbon 16 against the sheet 14 and the inked ribbon 16 moves toward the ribbon core 36 as the carriage 5 is moved by the carriage motor 8.
  • the ribbon cassette 7 moves together with the carriage 5 as a unit so that the new inked ribbon 16 wound on the ribbon core 35 is fed through the back tension mechanism 33 to the thermal head 15.
  • the inked ribbon 16 is wound on the ribbon core 36 after moving past the thermal head 15 for performing printing.
  • the ribbon core 36 is connected to a take-up shaft 21 located in the carriage 5 and driven by the timing belt 10, to be driven thereby for rotation.
  • print marks are formed only at its lower half-portion as indicated by hatching in Fig. 2.
  • the inked ribbon 16 having the print marks formed only at its lower half-portion by the printing operation is fed from the ribbon core 35 and wound on the ribbon core 36, until only its terminal end portion remains on the ribbon core 36, until only its terminal end portion remains on the ribbon core 35.
  • the ribbon cassette 7 is removed from the carriage 5 and mounted on the carriage 5 again after being turned over.
  • the ribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that the cassette case member 31 comes into contact with the top surface of the carriage 5, and the thermal head 15 is inserted in the cutout 32B.
  • the heat generating elements, not shown, of the thermal head 15 are positioned against a portion of the inked ribbon 16 which has no print marks, and the ribbon core 35 on which only the terminating portion of the inked ribbon 16 is wound is connected to the take-up shaft 21.
  • the inked ribbon 16 has been shown and described as being used in such a manner that its lower half-portion is used in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inked ribbon 16 is used in the second stage of operation.
  • the invention is not limited to this use of the inked ribbon 16 and similar results can be achieved by using an upper half-portion of the inked ribbon 16 in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inked ribbon 16 in the second stage of operation.
  • the cutouts 32A and 32B are formed on the left and right sides, respectively, of the front portion of the cassette case.
  • this is not restrictive, and a single cutout may be formed substantially in the central portion of the front portion of the cassette case, not lopsidedly on the left side of the front portion as is the case with ribbon cassettes of the prior art, so that the ribbon cassette can be used by bring turned over and rotated.
  • cutouts may be formed substantially in the central portions or on the left side and on the right side of both front and rear portions of the cassette case, so that the ribbon cassette can be used by being turned over as well as by being rotated.
  • a spacer may be mounted at a top surface or a bottom surface of the ribbon cassette for adjusting height, so as to enable printing of characters and symbols to be performed in more than two stages of operation.
  • means for detachably attaching the spacer may be provided.
  • means for fixedly supporting the spacer may be provided to the top surface of the carriage.
  • the thermal transfer printer provided with the improved inked ribbon cassette of the aforesaid construction can achieve the following effects.
  • a roll of inked ribbon can be used to perform printing in a plurality of stages. This is conducive to a great reduction in running costs.
EP19850102878 1984-03-13 1985-03-13 Imprimante thermique à transfert Expired EP0154990B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP4650584A JPS60190380A (ja) 1984-03-13 1984-03-13 熱転写プリンタ
JP46505/84 1984-03-13

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0154990A2 true EP0154990A2 (fr) 1985-09-18
EP0154990A3 EP0154990A3 (en) 1986-01-29
EP0154990B1 EP0154990B1 (fr) 1988-08-03

Family

ID=12749102

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19850102878 Expired EP0154990B1 (fr) 1984-03-13 1985-03-13 Imprimante thermique à transfert

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0154990B1 (fr)
JP (1) JPS60190380A (fr)
DE (1) DE3564093D1 (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5094555A (en) * 1985-03-15 1992-03-10 Hitachi, Ltd. Thermal printer and invertible ribbon cassette therefor including a variable ribbon braking and ribbon detection means
GB2272669A (en) * 1992-11-20 1994-05-25 Neopost Ltd Reversible cassette for economy of ink ribbon usage in selective printers.
AU691781B2 (en) * 1996-10-15 1998-05-21 Itw Limited A method of operating a thermal printer

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH0745258B1 (fr) * 1987-04-06 1995-05-17 Sigmax
DE8713034U1 (fr) * 1987-09-28 1987-11-19 Computer Gesellschaft Konstanz Mbh, 7750 Konstanz, De

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2415265A1 (de) * 1974-03-29 1975-10-16 Buettner Ag Franz Kassette fuer farbband fuer schreibende maschinen

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2415265A1 (de) * 1974-03-29 1975-10-16 Buettner Ag Franz Kassette fuer farbband fuer schreibende maschinen

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5094555A (en) * 1985-03-15 1992-03-10 Hitachi, Ltd. Thermal printer and invertible ribbon cassette therefor including a variable ribbon braking and ribbon detection means
GB2272669A (en) * 1992-11-20 1994-05-25 Neopost Ltd Reversible cassette for economy of ink ribbon usage in selective printers.
GB2272669B (en) * 1992-11-20 1996-09-25 Neopost Ltd Printing apparatus
AU691781B2 (en) * 1996-10-15 1998-05-21 Itw Limited A method of operating a thermal printer

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0154990A3 (en) 1986-01-29
JPS60190380A (ja) 1985-09-27
EP0154990B1 (fr) 1988-08-03
DE3564093D1 (en) 1988-09-08

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